Robinson’s “Kick-Ass 2” Is a Shining Example of the Superhero Movie Review Genre

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Tasha Robinson’s “Kick-Ass 2” starts by painting a vivid picture of a scene in the eponymous movie of a brutal and disturbing act of violence momentarily played for laughs. In doing so, she sets the tone for her review, a confident and competent piece of criticism that focuses on the movie’s failure in tonality. She provides a compelling argument for why it simply does not work.

Where many reviewers would focus solely on their disapproval of the over-the-top violence of Kick-Ass 2 and thus become more an exercise in preaching rather than critiquing, Robinson eschews moral judgment of the movie.

To her, the problem isn‘t the violence in and of itself. After all, there are countless examples of movies that use violence effectively. Instead, the problem as she presents it is the inability to commit to the ugliness of the violence, choosing instead to dilute it with token attempts at humor that don‘t quite hit their mark.

She builds on the startling opening image of *meta-spoiler alert* a rape scene, calling back to it even as she presents other examples of humor-tinged violence gone wrong. Robinson can spot a filmmaker hedging his bets, and you‘d better believe she’s going to call him on it.

It can be tricky, tackling a subject as touchy as Kick-Ass 2 in a movie review, but Tasha Robinson tackles the challenge with aplomb. If she hasn‘t won you over to her position by the end, you probably weren‘t paying attention.